Seoul: Day One

Once again it has been a long time since I have last written.

Recently I have just gotten back from visiting Seoul, so I thought that I would document my travels here. :D

My flight left from Narita Airport and arrived in Incheon International Airport. Unfortunately, because it was really late by the time I got through customs and got my luggage there were no more trains running and I had to take a taxi to the hostel. :(

The taxi driver couldn't speak English or Japanese and the only Korean I know are a few phrases from dramas and the names of some foods, so the taxi drive was really interesting. Because I would just say in Korean "I like Gam Ja Tang." And then the driver would ramble in Korean and I would be completely lost. Once we had moved off that set phrase I had no clue what was going on. So then I would say "I like Sam Gyup Sal." And he would say something else in Korean, and I would pretend I knew what he was talking about. He kept on recommending a dish he called "Won won Ja Tang". And eventually I understood that he was trying to tell me that I should try Gam Ja Tang made with dog meat. D:

The taxi drive was extremely expensive, about 80,000 won. So if you're planning on going to Seoul I recommend that you try to get to the airport early enough to catch a train (only about 4,000 won)!

Finally, I reached Hongdae Station. The taxi driver had no clue where my hostel was and I had directions from Hongdae Station (also known as Hongik University Station) saved on my ipod (in English of course), so I just decided to walk from the station. The walk to the hostel ended up being down a series of ill-lit and slightly ominous looking backstreets and I was relieved when I arrived at the hostel with all of belongings still in my possession.

The hostel that my friends had picked is called Birdsnest and it was a really great place. I strongly recommend it to anyone going to Seoul. The prices are cheap, there are a lot of facilities provided, and the owner is helpful and is quite good at English.

Here's the website if you're interested: Birdsnest Hostel at Booking.com

After I got settled into the hostel, we decided to wander around Hongdae. Although it was already around 1 the area was brightly light and packed with drunk college students. We walked around for awhile, wondering what to do. Eventually we decided to drink at a bar. Around Hongdae there were many Ho Bar stores (Ho Bar III and Ho Bar VII, I believe). So we decided to drink at a Ho Bar location. The Ho Bar was dark and badly lit by a red neon sign on the wall. Loud music blared from the speakers. The bass was verging on painful.

At the Ho Bar there were options for sets of drinks that we could order, so we chose one with three Heinekens and three Singha (a Thai beer). It also came with a platters of crackers/cheese/tomatoes/ham/cucumber, chips and salsa, and some kind of dried grilled squid or fish.

There weren't many other customers in the Ho Bar. We drank as we watched a group of drunk foreigners dancing in the back of the bar. Soon a coule of Korean guys wandered over and joined them. Every once in a while one of the waiters standing around would also break out into a strange angular dance.

We considered going out clubbing but the next day we were meeting some friends at 10. So instead, after we finished drinking we went back to the hostel and slept. And this concludes day one in Seoul. :)